Thursday, July 29, 2010

Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us. --Eric Hoffer

As adults, we accept responsibility for our feelings and our circumstances. We haven't chosen our own troubles, but we have the job of dealing with them. If a man falls and breaks a leg, he might say to someone, "It's your fault, and I'll make you pay for this!" But that won't fix his leg. The healing still has to come from within.

Our impulse to blame others is an attempt to escape our responsibilities. We become overcritical. We want someone else to take the rap for our pain and our misdeeds, but this only delays our wholeness. There is no point in blaming ourselves either. When we first confront our discomfort directly and accept responsibility for dealing with it, we feel an inner urge to escape again. If we stay with the discomfort a while, a new stage begins -- the healing and acceptance stage. A feeling of wholeness comes, a feeling of being a real person, of having reached our full size.

May I not indulge in blame today - toward myself or anyone else. Instead, may I be strong and responsible.

Flattery or Praise?Flattery and praise are social lubricants that serve human purposes. But flattery is merely manipulative, while genuine praise is beneficial to everybody. Many of us with troubled back grounds also have trouble giving and accepting praise.Sometimes we mistake flattery for praise and use it either to manipulate otehs or allow ourselves to bemanipulated. Perhaps we're either too proud or too self-conscious to deal with real praise.

Another mistake is in believing that praise should be given out only sparingly, only after outstanding achievement. Not so, we need to give and receive praise continuously in order to reach higher levels of achievement. Knowing it's importance, we'll alsolearn howto avoid flattery.

Action for the Day: I'll offer both verbal and silent praise today in my dealing with others. We'll all benefit from it.

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One Day At A Time

Concern, Compassion, ConsiderationNone of us can ever fathom the glories and the uncharted regions of the universe.But we can live on earth and love one another.We can let in the beginnings of concern, compassion, consideration,and watch ourselves grow.With the tools and guideposts of Alcoholics Anonymous,we can learn a little of this precious gift -- our gateway to human spirituality.~ Came To Believe . . ., p. 120

Thought to Ponder . . .Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional,growing spiritually is up to you.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .A A =Always Aware.

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Daily Motivation

Get your bearings

Most of the things that annoy you and frustrate you are not really that important. Step back, get your bearings, and look at the big picture.

Much of what you think you need, you don't really even want. Imagine being free of all that unnecessary needing.

In every moment, in any situation, you can feel deep and genuine love. You can find spectacular beauty in the smallest, simplest things.

You can experience the joy of being. You can think and act and express your unique vision in countless ways, no matter what the circumstance.

No matter how painful or difficult the moment may be, there is always much to truly treasure. Remember to remember that, and turn your focus toward the treasure, toward the beauty, toward the joy of simply being.

Allow that joy, and notice how much stronger it makes you feel. Whatever else is going on, now is a beautiful time to be alive.

In the BLGTQI community we focus a lot on our outer appearance. How’s my hair? How do I look in this outfit? Does my make-up look good? I’m I too thin, or too fat? We can spend hours at the gym working out without any hesitation. But when it comes to working on our inner being, our soul, we tend to avoid it like the black plague. Many of us don’t even know where to begin.

My hope is that this post will help you figure out how to begin your “Work-In” program. Yes, just like a workout program at the gym.